Aggie gridiron signs 25 national letters of intents day for first SBC class
Now that the Utah State football program is more secure with its inclusion in the Sun Belt Conference, the Aggie coaching staff looked to secure the future of the team.
With the future in mind, USU signed 18 high school players to national letters of intents on Wednesday. All in all, the Aggies inked 25 players, including 18 high schoolers, 5 junior college transfers and two Division I tranfers to national letters of intents.
“It is an ongoing process to move away from relying on junior college players,” said USU Head Coach Mick Dennehy. “We’re kind of getting towards where we’d like to be as far as bringing in very good, young talented players that we can redshirt, and will be impact-players in the future of our program.”
Nevertheless, this does not mean that USU’s junior college transfers will not play significant roles, especially in the upcoming season. In fact, Dennehy said he expects all seven college signees to be in position to play right away.
Dennehy said El Camino Junior College transfer Brent Pollock, a two-time JC honorable mention All-American at noseguard, will help the Aggies in their move from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense.
Pollock will also give USU much needed size on the interior as he is 6-3, 312 pounds.
“If we had one wish that we could fulfill in this group, it would be the big fellow [Pollock] from El Camino,” Dennehy said. “He’s going to be a guy who’s going to make us better from day one.”
Scott Barrett and James Dawson, who combined for 38 sacks their senior years of high school, are the other two defensive linemen the Aggies inked.
San Jose State transfer Elliott Tupea and West Valley Junior College transfer Victor Eti are two other players Dennehy said he expects will “play right away.”
Tupea, the brother of Aggie defensive tackle Ronald Tupea, and Eti are two of the seven offensive linemen Utah State signed. Among the others are Matt Reese, a two-time all-state selection in the state of California, and Sky View High School graduate Casey Crookston — USU’s only signee from Cache Valley.
University of Utah transfer Justin Hamblin is the other Division I transfer to sign with the Aggies. Dennehy said Hamblin will challenge Ben Chaet for the team’s kicking/punting duties.
Junior college transfers Raymond Hicks and Barry Tolli are two players Dennehy said he is expecting to help fill the void of graduating standouts Kevin Curtis and Gary Coleman at wide receiver.
“I love Barry Tolli, and I love Raymond Hicks,” he said. “I think they’re very, very talented, big-play type of guys. They’re going to fit into what we do offensively really well.”
Other skill position players USU was able to sign were incoming freshmen wideouts Tamarkus McElvane and Tony Pennyman, junior college tailback Tyrone McKinney, and incoming freshman tight end Jimmy Bohm.
In addition to adding depth at the offensive line position, the Aggies were able to shore up the secondary, and add height to it. Four of the six defensive backs that signed with USU are at least 6-foot-1, including 6-foot-3 safety Vaughn Mansfield.
Mansfield was one of the incoming freshman Dennehy said expects to be an impact player his first year. Mansfield might also see time on special teams, after blocking six punts and three field goal attempts his senior year of high school.
Two other high school signees who have turned some heads are quarterback Leon Jackson III, and Coalville native Andy Carlsen.
Jackson was recruited by several Pacific 10 schools, after throwing a whopping 35 touchdowns and just seven interceptions his senior year at Long Beach Poly (Calif.) High School. Long Beach Poly finished the season as the No. 2-ranked high school team in the country.
While Dennehy said Jackson is “about as smooth a quarterback and as polished a kid coming out of high school that I have seen in a long time,” he said he hopes Aggie fans don’t place unrealistic expectations on Jackson.
“There’s a huge difference between being a part of one of the best high school teams in the country, and making the jump to Division I football,” Dennehy said. “But I feel really good about Leon. I think he’s an outstanding talent and an outstanding young man.”
Carlsen, who signed with USU as a defensive back, finished his high school career as Utah’s all-time leading rusher (4,967 yards), and is an all-state athlete in four sports.
Overall, Dennehy said he considers USU’s 2003 recruiting class to be a very accomplished one. Then again, he said being able to tell prospective recruits that USU had accepted a bid to the Sun Belt made the recruiting process a lot easier than it’s been the last two years.
“It was way, way easier going into homes and explaining to kids and their folks that we have a bowl game that we have a chance to play for,” he said. “Without question, my hat goes off to [athletics director] Rance [Pugmire] and [USU] President [Kermit L.] Hall for all the work that they did in getting us this
opportunity.”
Other Notes
* As they have in the past, the Aggies signed several players from the state of California — 16 to be exact. The next highest state on the list is Utah (5).
* Defensive back signee Kevin Robinson is the brother of John Rushing, USU’s new secondary coach.
–jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu